In a series of 30 orders issues last Friday, meatpacking company Pilgrim’s Pride announced stipulated dismissals with dozens of plaintiffs in In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, the sprawling lawsuit brought against Pilgrim’s Pride and other meatpacking companies.
The antitrust lawsuit generally alleges that Pilgrim’s Pride, along with other meat industry companies like Tyson Foods, JBS, Smithfield, and many others, conspired to keep prices high. They did so, according to the allegations brought by hundreds of plaintiffs in multiple different categories, by sharing pricing information via Agri-Stats, also a defendant.
Jayson Penn, Pilgrim’s Pride’s ex-CEO, is facing criminal indictment for price fixing as well.
The dismissals filed concern claims made against Pilgrim’s Pride by a variety of plaintiffs, including many restaurant chains such as Wawa, Buffalo Wild Wings, Whataburger, and Bob Evans.
Each stipulated dismissal order disposes the claims against Pilgrim’s Pride with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled. Additionally, the stipulated dismissals have “no bearing on the Plaintiffs’ claims against Defendants other than Pilgrim’s.”
Pilgrim’s Pride is represented in the case by Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP.